Am I nuts?

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Offer $2000. If they don't accept, walk on it.

The rear bumper looks rusted out. The wheels are corroding. That is very high mileage. It is one thing to have a high mileage Toyota or any car in which you were the original owner, maintained it and took it from low miles to high miles. Its a completely other thing to buy a very high mileage vehicle that you don't know the history on.

If you buy that vehicle, understand that you will likely have to put thousands of dollars into maintenance. I would double the price of the vehicle when factoring in the maintenance/repairs.

Ball joints, shocks, timing belt/water pump, muffler, plugs, etc...

Just understand the true cost of a vehicle when buying. It might be better to purchase one that costs a little more but will have significantly less mileage which should translate into less upkeep/repairs.
 
That woodgrain sure looks nice. If i were considering that 4runner, i would have a serious crawl underneath it. Check for rust. With the bumper and the wheels that rough, i would imagine it's gonna have every nut/bolt seized.
 
At 235k miles you can expect to replace the radiator, lower ball joints, inner outer tie rods, and more. If you can do it yourself, will cost $500-$800 in parts. Unless you are ok with sloppy steering and such.

Dealer's never sell vehicles at a steal price, there's a reason why it's priced really low.
 
jer7440 said:
Thanks for the responses so for!

ARC...have you had to drop a lot of money into yours?
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Yeah thousands in aftermarket upgrades. As far as maintenance I have spent maybe $500. And none if had to be done it was all just preventative. The only real regret I have is how worn out the driver's seat is, and how pricy it will be to replace. Maintenance really just isn't that expensive. People make it sound terrible.
 
I paid $3500 for my wife's with 284K on it. That was October '11, and I've put maybe $200 in to it. The timing belt job was done prior to purchase. It had a recent tune up.

Since purchase, I've changed the spark plugs, and put new seal kits on the fuel injectors. I also rebuilt the starter.

Its not perfect, and in fact, was in very similar shape to the one above. It drives straight as an arrow, smooth comfortable ride, and runs great.

Take a look underneath. If its not rusted out along the frame rails, thats a pretty good deal...I'd buy it for that price. Those wheels and bumpers are really not that bad considering its a 16 year old vehicle in the rust belt. They most likely don't have too many bites with that many miles, but most people don't understand how long these motors and trannys last.
 
I'd go in and offer less for it, but honestly it's probably not a bad deal if it's not rusted too badly underneath.

But as mentioned above, you're going to probably have to do some basic maintenance to it. Shocks, struts, ball joints and tie rod ends are all well due at that mileage. If they haven't already been done factor that into your budget.

On the other hand, you can probably find one for $4-5k with 50k fewer miles, but it's still probably going to need the same stuff done to it soon enough.
 
ARC said:
Yeah thousands in aftermarket upgrades. As far as maintenance I have spent maybe $500. And none if had to be done it was all just preventative. The only real regret I have is how worn out the driver's seat is, and how pricy it will be to replace. Maintenance really just isn't that expensive. People make it sound terrible.
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Agreed. Alot of 3rd gens are over 200k now, so you get better value. I mean, you're going to want your trail rig to be in tip top shape anyways. So I don't see the point in paying alot more for lower mileage when the maintenance is just around the corner anyways.
 
So I just talked to someone at the dealership. He said there is a little rust on the hood, over one of the wheel wells on the driver side, and the bumper. I asked about the underside and he said it looked like it had been undercoated. Undercoating....good or bad? I don't need this to be beautiful. I just need reasonably mechanically sound. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. I just need something with diagnosable problems. Right now I have a '02 Grand prix with a mystery electrical problem. I can fix it...if I can figure it out. Will a T4R be easy to diagnose problems?
 
Yeah, because it's an OBD-II vehicle it's not hard to diagnose any engine issues. And for steering/vibration issues it's almost always the same culprits.

I highly recommend taking it out on a highway or up 70 MPH for a little bit. Will reveal any steering slop or issues so you know what to expect.

I have no experience with rust/undercoating so I have nothing to add there.
 
Funny, I have the same head unit. Not amazing but it works. You could always ask for pictures if the underside, especially if it is far away.

Rear Lower control arm mounts are a good place to start.
 
JBurt said:
Funny, I have the same head unit. Not amazing but it works. You could always ask for pictures if the underside, especially if it is far away.

Rear Lower control arm mounts are a good place to start.
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JBurt, thanks for the advice! The car is about 45 min to 1 hour away. I'm going to go check it out.
 
jer7440 said:
So I just talked to someone at the dealership. He said there is a little rust on the hood, over one of the wheel wells on the driver side, and the bumper. I asked about the underside and he said it looked like it had been undercoated. Undercoating....good or bad? I don't need this to be beautiful. I just need reasonably mechanically sound. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. I just need something with diagnosable problems. Right now I have a '02 Grand prix with a mystery electrical problem. I can fix it...if I can figure it out. Will a T4R be easy to diagnose problems?
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The rust is visible on the rear bumper. If the 4Runner was neglected to the point that the rear bumper was allowed to rust through, I'm sure the previous owner didn't make much of an effort to wash Salt off the rest of the undercarriage, either.

If the frame is freshly undercoated, I suspect it was to hide a very rusty frame. Without being able to confirm the condition of the frame, I would avoid this particular 4Runner.
 
If the frame isn't rotted and the rust isn't too bad its worth $3000 all day long. I just sold my 97 with 236,000 on it last night for more than that. If it drives good and seems mechanically sound you should be fine. A little body rust doesn't scare me. Mine was maintained but no beauty queen. Most the 3rd gens with lower miles are gonna be minimum $4-5K. If its got 200K plus on it, It has probably had the normal failure parts replaced all ready. Where a lower mile one for more money is gonna have to have that stuff replaced still. Go look at it and see how it is. Never hurts. Prices on these things in Michigan are all over the place. You shoulve bought my 97 off me jer7440. Im not far from you. It didn't last two hours on Craigslist.
 
Well...I just found out that a '99 limited w/187K miles, that I thought I missed out earlier this week is still for sale. They are asking 4K for that, which is the top of my budget. I like the lower miles, though. I'm going to check that out first.
 
Well, the '99 was trashed. I ended up buying the '98 I originally posted about. It's a little rough around the edges, but I think it will be serviceable. I picked it up for $2800.

It seems to have a newer radiator and it is running green coolant. Is a transmission flush in order? It also seems to have a new alternator and belts.

The ride seems pretty bouncey. I may need a new set of shocks.
 
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